Hold On, Don't Cry oneshot
by Storychan
Summary: Kyo undergoes a magic ritual that may end his shapeshifting days .or destroy Tohru ponders her feelings about the ..and about Kyo/Tohru


Hold On, Don't Cry: A _Fruits Basket _ Oneshot

By: Storychan

Tohru sat in the cemetery, crying. This time it wasn't because of her mother. It was…

Kyo.

Hana had found it: the answer to their prayers, and the source of Tohru's tears.

A ritual that, if done correctly, could halt one's ability to shapeshift forever.

Of course, Kyo would still be The Cat. But if this magickal rite worked, Tohru could….

_I could hug Kyo-kun, _ she thought. She never called him "Kyo-kun" out loud, but of course she _thought _it. _Kyo-kun. Kyo-kun needs hugs…she's so ornery and angry all the time, and if a hug didn't force him to shapeshift, I think it would soothe him. It's something he needs, whether he knows it or not. I just want him to be able to have something like that._

That was why she was out here, in the middle of the cemetery, at such a late hour. Midnight.

Because if Kyo could stand, completely still, on the peak of the mountain that overlooked the cemetery where she stood, and say "I will not change" 1,000 times before dawn hit, the parameters of the ritual would be fulfilled.

That thought made her smile….that Kyo could come down off the mountain as dawn broke and finally hug Tohru without fear of becoming a monster.

But the tears came from Hana's warning: _Tohru-chan, if Kyo can't do this…_

Kyo could do _anything_, as far as Tohru was concerned. She knew she shouldn't worry, but she did. Kyo had done harder things than this, she reminded herself. He'd gone to school with a bunch of girls like her who could discover his secret (like she had) , and with Yuki, who he couldn't stand. He'd spent years trying to surpass Yuki. He'd dealt with his mom, and with the whole Sohma Clan.

_This should be easy, _Tohru thought. _But it isn't._

Kyo could do anything. But what if he couldn't?

_Tohru-chan, if Kyo can't do this…..he'll die._

The entirety of Hana's warning sprung back into Tohru's head, and a fresh stream of tears sprung unbidden from Tohru's tired eyes. _What if Kyo couldn't do it?_

_What if Kyo-kun died?_

He can't, Tohru decided. _Not now. Because I…._

A memory sprung back to her. How at one point, after they'd argued after Kyo's first day of school, Tohru had thought Kyo hated her. _He couldn't possibly hate me, if he's doing this for me now._

At the end of that day, Tohru remembered, Kyo had begged her to strike him back with her schoolbag for even making her _think _that. She'd already struck him once, because stupid Shigure-san had told her that creeps went out in the woods she lived by at night. She couldn't believe she'd mistaken Kyo for one of _them._

But Kyo had thought Tohru had done so because she hated _him. _

_He thought I hated him, _she recalled. _He couldn't possibly think that now. But he doesn't know that I…_

_What if he dies not knowing?_

The thought made Tohru panic. _He has to know, _she thought. _Or this is all worth nothing._

As she raised her head to run toward the mountain, a bright ray of sunshine fell upon her head. She'd been so stupid….thinking and worrying about Kyo so long that she hadn't even realized dawn was breaking.

_Dawn! _Tohru thought. _That's when Kyo-kun….._

"Sorry I took so friggin' long," said a voice from just around the corner. "I almost fell asleep standing up there so damn long, Tohru-chan!"

The voice met it's face as Kyo came around the bend, smiling. "Tohru-chan?"

_Thank god. _ Tohru thought as she found herself running, running to meet Kyo….running straight into Kyo's arms, for the first time.

"Wow, Tohru-chan," Kyo said, blinking in surprise. "It's….weird, not transforming when you…do…when you do that."

Tohru giggled, beaming, her arms still wrapped around Kyo's thankfully, wonderfully, beautifully still-human form. "It's called a _hug_, Kyo-kun."

Kyo laughed. "Since when do you call me 'Kyo-kun'?"

Tohru bit her tongue, shocked that it had slipped out, slipped out when she should have told him instead that….

"It's _OK_, y'know, Tohru-chan," Kyo whispered to her, raising his arms to hug her back, as she never could have, never would have, before. "It's better than Kyo-Kyo, at least!" he laughed.

_He's here, _Tohru thought. _He's alive, so he has to know that I….._

"I love you, Kyo-kun!" Tohru said aloud. She blushed…she never thought she'd say it out loud. Just like she never thought she'd call him 'Kyo-kun' to his face.

"I know, Tohru-chan," Kyo admitted, smiling and still not letting her go.

"Y-you do?" Tohru said, blinking in shock and surprise and….joy.

"Yup," Kyo said. "I do."

"Umm, Kyo-kun?" Tohru whispered. "It's, uh, late….I mean, early. We have school today…maybe you should let go so we can walk home."

"No." Kyo whispered back, only drawing her closer, still smiling, still amazed that this moment was _possible._

"N-no?" Tohru repeated, surprised. "Why not?"

Kyo laughed. "Why do you _think_, Tohru-chan? Because….because I…."

Kyo grabbed hold of Tohru's chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

He was crying, Tohru registered, with shock. He was crying with sheer joy.

"I love you, too, Tohru-chan…and I can finally…._finally_…show you just how much."


End file.
